Tag: Sony Ericsson Xperia

According to the word going around, Sony Ericsson is currently working on the successor to the Xperia X10. The device, which goes by the codename Cliaro, is expected to be announced near the end of this year, and ship in early 2011.

The news that Sony Ericsson is working on a successor to the Xperia X10 is not a surprise. However, the resolution being touted by the reports spreading around the interwebs is suspicious to say the least. The use of AMOLED is also surprising. Recently, even HTC switched to super-LCD screens manufactured by Sony due to acute shortage of AMOLED screens. Even though IT168 has been right before, we are putting this firmly in the rumors category until we know more.

Sony Ericsson promised earlier that the update to Android 2.1 for Xperia family will release in Q4 2010. This didn’t went down well with the X10 owners. Finally, Sony Ericsson decided to roll out the update before end of September this year.

Sony Ericsson UK via their twitter account confirmed this news. Sony Ericsson for rolling out the Android 2.1 update in September, decided to delay the Mediascape and Timescape update for Q4 2010. This was a good decision by them because both these applications are missing common must have features, few X10 users actually use them.

Finally, for those who own a X10, you don’t have to wait longer for Android 2.1 to come on your device.

The two Xperia X10 minis, the X10 Mini and X10 Mini Pro will be getting new colors in selected markets from next month. The Xperia X10 Mini will get a Gold color, while the Xperia X10 Mini Pro will get a girlie Pink color. The new colors is for the back covers of the phone, the front part will remain the same.

The Xperia X10 Mini’s buttons on the front will also have a Gold color. The gold color on the X10 Mini is glossy and is eye catching. The Xperia X10 Mini Pro’s pink color will be appealing for girls.

The hardware of both the phones is the same, the only difference is the physical QWERTY on Xperia X10 Mini Pro. Both these phones run Android 1.6 and will be upgraded to Android 2.1 in early Q4 this year.

The mid ranged Android device from Sony Ericsson, the Xperia X8 will be releasing in UK by September. The X8 will be brought by O2 in UK. However, the price of the phone is not been disclosed by O2 yet. Sony Ericsson had promised earlier that the price won’t be more than EUR 200. I hope it won’t cost much.

The Xperia X8 has a 3 inch TFT capacitive screen with 480 x 320 resolution and 16 million colors support. It has a 3.5mm audio jack. The internal memory is of 128MB and the external memory is expandable up to 16GB. It supports 2G, 3G and Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g connectivity. The Bluetooth version is 2.1 with A2DP support.

The camera on X8 is of 3.15 MP with fixed focus and lacks flash. The video is recorded in VGA resolution at 30fps. The X8 will have Android 1.6 at the time of release and is expected to be upgraded to Android 2.1 within a month of release. The processor’s clock speed is 600MHz. Stereo FM radio with RDS support is also present. GPS with aGPS and digital compass support is also present.

The X8 will have exchangeable back covers. The battery power is of 1200mAh Li-Po. The Xperia X8 is a very good phone if the price remains under EUR 200.

The latest member of the Sony Ericsson Xperia series, the X8 has been caught in a hands-on video. The Xperia X8 will be filling the gap between the gigantic Xperia X10 and the tiny Xperia X10 mini. The Xperia X8 has a 3″ capacitive touchscreen with HVGA (480 x 320) resolution.

Despite having a bigger screen than X10 mini, the X8 sports the same X10 mini UI. The X8 has the same four corner shortcuts and widgets pane as in X10 mini. The onscreen QWERTY is better on the 3″ screen. The X8 will have Android 1.6 at the time of release in Q3 2010, but it will be upgraded to Android 2.1 sooner than later.

The Xperia X8 has been confirmed to have a price below EURO 200 ($248 & INR 11,350). The price tag could be a big advantage for X8 because there is hardly any good low range Android device in the market. Below is a hands-on video of X8, the video is small but answers the basic questions regarding the X8. More info on Xperia X8 is here.

Sony Ericsson previously announced that, the Android 2.1 update for Xperia X10, X10 mini and X10 mini pro will roll out in Q4 2010, which was highly disappointing for the users. But today, Sony Ericsson at their product blog confirmed that the Android 2.1 update with HD (720P) recording feature for Xperia X10 will roll out in Q3 2010.

Sony Ericsson at their product blog said,

” Previously on this blog we communicated that we will update our 2010 Xperia phones (Xperia X10, X10 mini and X10 mini pro) to Android OS 2.1 in Q4. We are today happy to confirm that all of these phones will now get the update to Android 2.1 from the latter part of Q3 and onwards (timing will vary from market to market, some will be in Q4. Please follow this blog for further information with regards to exact timing of the upgrades).We are of course very glad to offer this upgrade earlier than originally planned. Xperiaâ„¢ X10’s position will also be further strengthened through the addition of HD video recording as part of the same Q3 upgrade. A further upgrade to the Xperiaâ„¢ X10 in Q4 will make it possible to connect and display wirelessly content on your television and enhance the Timescapeâ„¢ and Mediascape applications.”

This means that Sony Ericsson has decided to roll out the Android 2.1 update earlier and improving their Timescape and Mediascape application later, which is a very good move. Hopefully, the Android 2.1 update will roll out in the end of Q3 (depending on market). The Xperia X10 users have something to cheer now.

Few days ago, we reported about a rumored Android running handset “Shakira”. The suspense didn’t last longer on it because Sony Ericsson today, officially announced the “Shakira” as X8. The X8 will be the latest addition in Xperia series lineup and another Android running device from Sony Ericsson.

The official specification of Xperia X8 is also disclosed. The X8 will have a 3″ TFT capacitive touchscreen with 16M colors display and 480 x 320 resolution. X8 will also have a 3.5 mm slot. The internal memory of X8 will be of 128MB and the microSD slot will be expandable up to 16GB (2GB will come onboard).

The Xperia X8 will support 2G and 3G connectivity. Wi-Fi will be present (the details is still not clear). The Bluetooth version is of 2.1 with A2DP support. The camera will be of 3.15MP. The video recording resolution is still not disclosed but we are expecting at least VGA resolution at 30fps. GPS with aGPS support will also be available.

The Android version will be 1.6. The processor inside will have a clock speed of 600MHz. Stereo FM radio with RDS is also present. The battery will have a power of 1200mAh. The Xperia X8 will be available in White, Dark Blue/ White, Aqua Blue/ White, Pink/ White, Silver/ White colors.

The Xperia X8 is scheduled to release in Q3 2010. The pricing is still not officially disclosed. But we expect it to be around EURO 230 or more (INR 15000-16000), as said by Sony Ericsson.

Sony Ericsson has yet to launch its line of Android phones, but expectations are already sky high. Xperia X10 is slated to come out soon, while Xperia X10 Mini and Xperia X10 Mini Pro should hit the market by the end of this year.

Sony Ericsson has been working on its dazzling user interface, dubbed UX (Rachael), for more than a couple of years. As a result of the long developement cycle, Xperia X10 would initially ship with Android 1.6 – which is fairly outdated. Thankfully, Sony Ericsson is not planning on leaving buyers of their brand new smart phones stranded with an outdated operating system. Speaking to CNet Asia, a Sony Ericsson spokesperson confirmed that SE will be upgrading all of its Android devices to the newer version. He teased that the upgrade "will be an Eclair variant, so it could be 2.1 or even 2.2″.

This news should be music to the ears of Sony Ericsson fans and anyone looking to buy an Xperia X10 device. At the moment, very little is known about Android 2.2. In fact, SE is possibly the first device manufacturer to even confirm its existence. The update timeframe is also ambiguous, and Sony Ericsson may take four to eight months to deliver the update. However, one thing is sure – exciting times lie ahead for Sony Ericsson and Android fans.

Today, at their press conference in Barcelona, Sony Ericsson surprised everyone with three new phones along with Xperia X10 and Vivaz. These phones were Xperia X10 mini, Xperia X10 mini PRO and Vivaz PRO.

So, altogether we have a total of five phones in which three (Xperia X10 mini, Xperia X10 mini PRO and Vivaz PRO) will be available in the market from Q2 and two (Xperia X10 and Vivaz) in Q1. Now about the basic features of these phones:

Xperia X10 and Vivaz has already been previewed by us. In brief, Xperia X10 is an Android phone with 1Ghz Snapdragon processor, 8 MP camera, 4inch full capacitive touch screen. It will be shipped with Android 1.6 and updated to Android 2.0/2.1 in future by Sony Ericsson officially.

Vivaz is a Symbian S60 v5 phone just like the Satio, but a massive improvement by Sony Ericsson on their second Symbian device. It has a 720Mhz processor with 8 MP camera and 720p HD recording at 24fps, a 3.2inch full touch screen. The video recording is the best we have till now in the market.

Now the three new phones, Xperia X10 mini, Xperia X10 mini PRO and Vivaz PRO, the Xperia X10 mini is the younger sister of Xperia X10. It’s specification is still not officially out but from the pictures it looks way smaller than X10. It has been optimized for one hand use.

Just like the Xperia X10 mini, the Xperia X10 mini PRO has the same design and size, but the difference is the QWERTY keyboard. Same goes with Vivaz PRO, all the specifications are hoped to be the same as in Vivaz, and the only difference will be the QWERTY keyboard.

The mini models from Sony Ericsson are expected to cover the medium price range. Sony Ericsson has learned from its previous mistakes and has officially declared the release date of the two phones in March, the Xperia X10 and Vivaz. While the three other phones will be available till Q2.

It was a wonderful presentation from Sony Ericsson at Barcelona. Stay tuned till we get our hands-on these new beauties.